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A therapy that involves recounting bad memories from supportive counseling has registered some success among adults having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

But the exposure treatment was not suggested for young adults as it was said that they have not developed robust coping skills. A group of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine have studied a modified form of the therapy designed for adolescents.

It has been found that when teens who have been sexually traumatized receive benefit from the therapy, they recounted the assault from supportive counseling. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has based the findings on an experiment.

The researchers carried out the experiment for more than six years in which they enrolled 61 adolescent girls aged between 13 and 18.

They were randomly assigned to either have counseling or exposure therapy. Every participant received counseling for 60 to 90 minutes and was evaluated at three months and six months. They were also monitored for a year.

It was found that those who have received exposure therapy for a longer time period have shown greater decline in PTSD and depression symptoms. The improvements continued even for more than a year time period.